British Farrier Banned for 90 Days for Damaging Former Client's Horses

A farrier in England has faced two prosecutions for professional misconduct after he was found to have crudely remove one front shoe from each of two event horses owned by a former client.

In court for criminal damages, the farrier "was convicted of cutting the shoes off both animals other than in the ordinary course of farriery, which damaged them" according to a local newspaper account, which included photos of one of the feet and said that the shoes were removed on two occasions, two weeks apart. Apparently he received a suspended sentence and paid compensation of about $500US.

The second prosecution was by the Disciplinary Committee of the Farriers Registration Council, the British government agency charged with enforcement of the Farriers Registration Act, and which found the farrier guilty of serious professional misconduct and suspended him from the Register of Farriers for three months.

For accuracy, the text that follows is from a transcript from the Farriers Registration Council, with names removed.

The farrier, who been in the Register since October 1983, appeared at the Hearing to answer the following charges:

Damage to the hoof wall of one of the horses in the case; one front shoe from each horse was cut off the foot, two weeks apart. Photo from ThisIsGloucestershire.co.uk

1. (a) On 21 July 2011, at the Cheltenham Magistrates Court, you were convicted of criminal damage on 23 February 2011 to the front left hoof of a horse named Arron, intending to destroy or damage such property or being reckless as to whether such property would be destroyed or damaged, contrary to sections 1 (1) and 4 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971, for which offense you were discharged conditionally for 12 months and ordered to pay compensation in the sum of £220.80 and costs in the sum of £85.00.

 2. On 23 February 2011 the criminal damage referred to in paragraph 1 above was such that: (a) you removed a shoe from the front left hoof of Arron without the consent of (the owner), knowing that you were doing so without such consent; and/or (b) you removed the shoe by cutting it off; and/or (c) you removed the shoe other than in the ordinary course of farriery; and/or (d) you caused damage to Arron; and/or (e) you caused unnecessary suffering to Arron.

 3. On 7 February 2011 you removed the shoe from a horse named Eric belonging to (the same owner) and in doing so: (a) you removed the shoe without the consent of the owner, knowing that you were doing so without such consent; and/or (b) you removed the shoe by cutting it off; and/or (c) you removed the shoe other than in the ordinary course of farriery; and/or (d) you caused damage to Eric; and/or (e) you caused unnecessary suffering to Eric.

A veterinary surgeon who had attended Arron confirmed the damage to the horses' hooves would have caused both horses pain on walking and unnecessary suffering. The horses required specialist farriery care over many months following the incidents; for Arron this is still ongoing.

The FRC's attorney submitted that “…the Respondent's conduct fell far below expected standards. Causing damage and unnecessary suffering to horses’ breaches the most fundamental principle of farriery...

...In addition, the horses were no longer under the Respondent's care and there was no reason for him to be with the horses: the Council would submit that this behavior must have been pre-meditated.

...The Council would further submit that the damage was an abuse of the Respondent's position, as it made improper use of his professional skills and abilities as a farrier.”

The farrier showed remorse for his actions, admitted all the facts outlined above and that they amounted to serious professional misconduct but offered no explanation.

After full consideration of the facts, the Committee found him guilty of serious misconduct in a professional respect and directed that he should be suspended from the Register for a period of 3 months.

Speaking on behalf of the Committee the Chairman stated: “….Your actions failed to uphold the good reputation of the farriery profession or to show you as honest and trustworthy. Finally, doing this shows a complete failure to comply with your legal obligations...

"…If we thought that your behavior stemmed from an indifference to the suffering which you have caused to the horses, we would have no hesitation in instructing the Registrar to remove your name from the Register. We have, however, seen your genuine sadness, your humiliation and remorse concerning what you have done. We do not expect that there will be any repeat of such actions in the future.”

The farrier's suspension took effect on Thursday 24 May. It will be illegal for him to practice farriery during that interval and to do so will be a criminal offense. He is still subject to a conditional discharge following the magistrates hearing on 21 July 2011.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Black Walnut Shavings and Laminitis Subject of Texas Court Case

Owners who bed their horses on shavings or sawdust need to have a trusting relationship with their suppliers. Occasionally, black walnut shavings find their way into the supply line. While this might not bother the guinea pig or the rabbit in their cages, it's a potential crisis at a horse barn. The latest case is in Texas, where a single horse was stricken with laminitis which was believed to have been caused by a small amount of black walnut in the bedding. (Kristen Fulara photo)

The following news item is reprinted for educational purposes.

Toxic black walnut wood shavings sold as bedding caused an Arabian horse to develop laminitis, a Texas ranch claims in court.

An Arabian horse developed laminitis in August of 2011, according to the complaint in Bexar County.

The ranch says it reached out to a veterinarian when the horse exhibited pain and swelling in its legs and sheath area. While examining the stable, the ranch allegedly noticed dark wood shavings with a distinct smell.

The ranch claims it had just switched out the wood shavings the day before, putting in a batch from a livestock product supplier,which obtained the bedding from a hardwoods product manufacturer.

It is possible that as little as 10 percent black walnut shavings can cause laminitis in horses. The entire bedding does not need to be dark-colored. The black walnut can look like threads among the lighter colors. Photo from Purdue Extension special report on black walnut shavings and laminitis.

Once the veterinarian diagnosed the horse as suffering from acute laminitis, he tested a sample of the bedding, according to the complaint.

The ranch says the supplier identified various woods that might explain the dark shavings, first naming elder, then cherry and mesquite.

But the Texas Veterinarian Medical Diagnostic Laboratories Systems at Texas A&M University ran more tests and identified the true source -- black walnut -- a wood known to cause laminitis when used as horse bedding, the ranch says.

The supplier later "admitted that earlier in 2011 another shipment of shavings from (the manufacturer) had contained black walnut and caused a similar incident with another one of (the supplier's) customer's horses," according to the complaint.

The ranch seeks exemplary damages for negligence, deceptive trade practices, breach of warranty and product liability.

It sued the livestock supplier, the hardwood manufacturer, and its owners.

The horse is undergoing medical care, but its owners say they cannot show or breed the horse.


This report was provided to the Hoof Blog by Courthouse News Service.

The complete transcript of the lawsuit can be downloaded as a pdf file: Texas laminitis black walnut shavings lawsuit. Watch the Hoof Blog for the outcome of the suit.

To learn more: Download the Purdue Extension special report on black walnut shavings and laminitis.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Acute Laminitis Medication Available to Field Case(s) for Testing

SPONSORED HOOF BLOG POST

WANTED: YOUR NEXT ACUTE LAMINITIS CASE

MAY 18, 2012--Hoofcare Publishing is asking the blog readership for assistance. The developer of a promising medication to improve the prognosis of acute laminitis cases is seeking a collaborator in the field who has a case that has just been diagnosed.

The medication is a mast cell inhibitor (stabilizer) that has been FDA-approved for use in humans. It is designed to inhibit the release of inflammatory mediators from the cells involved in laminitic reactions and has been successfully tested as a medication for induced laminitis in cattle, sheep and horses in university and private test studies.

A mast cell contains a bundle of granules. When it is activated, the pink granules, in this case of histamine, are released.  Mast cells are important in the immune response system but have many functions that are being studied in medicine. Color-enhanced transmission electron microscope image credit: University of Edinburgh. Wellcome Images

The developer now needs some clinical tests of the drug, which ships in solution in a vial. It is injected into the foot via retrograde venous therapy, similar to the way that antibiotics are injected into feet with infections. A tourniquet is used at the fetlock and the medication, in solution, is injected into the digital vein.

Only acute laminitis cases are being sought at this time. Horses that have progressed to chronic laminitis are not suitable for this test.

A stimulated mast cell that has just exploded, releasing histamine granules. The remains of the cell are seen towards the lower left, still containing a number of granules that are yet to escape. Image credit: K. Whitley, D. Becker, Wellcome Images

The medication is a mast-cell stabilizer, meaning that it inhibits the release of excess inflammatory mediators contained within mast cells. This is a much-studied area of immune-response medicine and other areas of disease pathways. The laminitis formulation also offers anti-inflammatory properties but must be administered only to horses that are not receiving Bute for therapy.

 A $75 formulation fee will be waived to a Hoofcare + Lameness blog reader who comes forward with a case to participate.

A clinic or private practitioner who would like to participate agrees to:

a. Administer the drug via the retrograde administration instructions provided.

b. Complete a Post-Treatment – Results Form – “5-Days” Post-Treatment.

c. To allow study sponsor to contact horse owner to complete Post-Treatment survey.

d. An owner-consent form must be completed.

If you are interested in participating, please send an email to Hoofcare Publishing and the developer will contact you.

Caution: Federal (United States) Law restricts this drug to use by or on the order of a licensed veterinarian.   Storage requirements: Room Temperature 

Followup: this product is also known as Laminil 

 

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ABC News / HSUS Tennessee Walking Horse Expose Brings Soring Case to National Attention

ABC News broadcast a hidden-camera video this week, exposing the at-home training techniques of well-known Tennessee Walking horse trainer Jackie McConnell of Collierville, Tennessee.

According to the ABC web site, the video was part of a recent Grand Jury indictment of McConnell and was shot by someone working on the trainer's barn crew while collaborating with the Humane Society of the United States.

As a result of this video, Pepsi has withdrawn its sponsorship of the breed's largest show, the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration in Shelbyville, Tennessee each September.

The Walking Horse Trainers Association (WHTA) has revoked McConnell's training license. WHTA did not have prior knowledge that the video existed or that ABC News planned to air it. Following the broadcast, the WHTA director quickly called a meeting to voice their reaction.



The WHTA was quick to take HSUS and ABC News to task for comments made on the broadcast about the Walking horse's natural gait.

WHTA President Jamie Hankins: “The gait of the Tennessee Walking Horse is a natural one and our horse does not have to be sored to achieve the high-stepping gait we are so well-known for.”

As further proof of the WHTA’s commitment to the welfare of the horse, Hankins stated that “[i]n February of this year, the USDA released data related to foreign substance testing and our organization acted immediately to introduce a new industry swabbing and drug testing initiative which will be implemented within the next month. This initiative goes above and beyond what is required by the Horse Protection Act, however, our board felt strongly that this program was necessary to protect the interests of our horses and our profession in light of the latest information received from the USDA.”



McConnell, who was previously banned from training horses for five years by the USDA, has been charged with 52 counts by a Grand Jury but he entered into a plea agreement last week with prosecutors. In exchange for pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Horse Protection Act, the other counts will be dropped.

The charges dropped relate to horse soring, transporting and entering sored horses in show competitions and falsifying documents. The penalty for the one count could be a $5000 fine, up to three years in prison, or both.

Horseshoer Joseph Abernathy was charged along with McConnell. The court agreed to allow him to continue to operate his farrier business, provided he report weekly on whose horses he has shod. Abernathy did not have any previous USDA violations on his record.

One of the training methods shown on the video is called "stewarding". It teaches the horse to stand still and not flinch when its sore feet and pasterns are handled by inspectors (stewards).

To learn more: Watch a video of a stake championship class for Walking horses at the Mississippi Charity Horse Show in Jackson last year. These horses all passed the anti-soring inspection before the competition.

Click on the image for more information and online ordering.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  
 

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Polydactyl Jackpot: Seven-hooved Foal Born in Belgium

In Nordic mythology, the famous Sleipner was the eight-legged horse ridden by arch-hero Odin. Alexander the Great's Bucephalus was allegedly a polydactyl as well, and Julius Caesar is said to have preferred to ride a horse with extra hooves.

Hold on to your hoof picks, the owner of this foal might need to borrow them.

A mare at a petting zoo in Belgium has given birth to a foal with seven hooves. Three of the foal's limbs are equipped with what are called supernumerary digits.

A year ago, the Hoof Blog splurged on a collection of bits and pieces from around the web about these unusual quintaped horses. We even found a Shire draft horse named "Norfolk Spider" with six hooves.

That particular post has gone on to become one of the "top 10" posts on the Hoof Blog of the last four years. Everyone seems to be curious about multi-digit horses. (See link to that article and photos below.)

It is unclear what will become of the foal in Belgium, partly because the information available is not in English and I'm hesitant to translate it with any certainty. It does sound like the vet school at the University of Ghent in Belgium is interested in obtaining the limbs, but it doesn't say that they are interested in the foal that is attached to them.

Click here to see two of the seven hooves of the foal in Belgium. That photo is protected by copyright. Hopefully more photos will be available, and I will be able to post them here.

Will the foal live or die? This is the kind of thing that people used to pay money to see on the midway at the fairs in Vermont.

It brings to mind one of my favorite poems by one of my favorite poets:

The Two-Headed Calf

Tomorrow when the farm boys find this
freak of nature, they will wrap his body
in newspaper and carry him to the museum.

But tonight he is alive and in the north
field with his mother. It is a perfect
summer evening: the moon rising over
the orchard, the wind in the grass.
And as he stares into the sky, there
are twice as many stars as usual.

"The Two-Headed Calf" by Laura Gilpin was featured on the Hoof Blog back in August 2009 after I heard Garrison Keillor read it on NPR's Writer's Almanac.

Good luck to the seven-hooved foal in Belgium. May he gallop his field with confidence some starry night soon.

TO LEARN MORE:

Click here to read  Polydactyl Horses (and People): Why Are Some Horses Born with an Extra Hoof?


Thanks:  Painting of Sleipnir by Ahula Tinga. Carving of Odin riding Sleipner is at the Oslo City Hall in Norway; photo by Jaime Silva.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to info@hoofcare.com.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofBlog

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Calgary Stampede: AAPF Member Farriers Will Receive CE Credit for Competing or Spectating at 2012 World Championship Blacksmiths' Competition

The following text was received today in the form of an announcement from the American Association of Professional Farriers and is re-published as received: 

In recognition of the American Association of Professional Farriers (AAPF) commitment to the farrier industry, the Calgary Stampede’s World Championship Blacksmiths’ Competition (WCBC) has named the AAPF as the permanent sponsor for the WCBC Horseshoeing Championship Trophy. 

This prestigious annual award goes to the individual showing the ultimate skill in the art and science of farriery, demonstrated during the competition against the best in the world in their chosen profession. 

Continuing Education Credit 

In addition, the WCBC has recognized the continuing education platform of the AAPF, where farriers attending the WCBC as a registered competitor or spectator will receive AAPF Continuing Education Credits. 

“The Calgary Stampede WCBC organizing committee recognizes the AAPF as being a positive driving force in the farrier industry and is looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship promoting the highest standards of hoof care in the world,” said Eric Swanby, chairman of the WCBC.

Jeff Ridley, AAPF President

“This recognition by the Calgary Stampede is a testimonial to the goals and objectives of our new association. We look forward to enhancing our relationship with the Calgary Stampede, its organizers and competitors. Further, this mutually beneficial alliance is indicative of the cooperation we plan to establish with other equine associations,” said Jeff Ridley, APF, CJF, TE, president, American Association of Professional Farriers. 

The 2012 Calgary Stampede’s World Championship Blacksmiths’ Competition will be held July 4 – 8 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 

 

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.